Customer Reviews

Mir: A Novel of Virtual Reality

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved the book, but I think that Besher needs to work on the ending. It just sorta ends, there isn't much to it. All in all the book was excelent, and I would recomend it to anyone.

While I did not dislike the book. Beshers second novel seems to have lost some of the edge apparent in the first.

All the elements are there, a cyberpunk/buddist setting, a deadly virus that could destroy the world and a few attempting to fight against it. However after a good start the plot seems to meander and the frequent jumps from character to character and in and out of various sub plots that Besher makes can lead to confusion on the part of the reader. I am going to go back to it a second time and feel that it may then grow on me but at the moment I can only say that it is readable but nothing special.

Epidermal programming is a cutting edge fetish. Sentient tatoos and the Mir 3.0 virus are loose in a world that exists both in consciousness and physical form -- and techno-pagan rituals can assist in moving both from body to body.

Original, intelligent, expansive and truly entertaining. The author is creating an epic story arc that is sure to become a classic. Highly recommended for those who can use a bit of altered reality!

A cyberpunk book of the slightly later variety. Live tattoos, jokes, and others. How do you feel if your girlfriend only loves you for you tatts?

A bit of espionage, industrial and otherwise, computer virus smuggling, dodgy underworld, dodgy characters, and more abound.

Think sort of a Charlie Stross or Ken Macleod flavour for the general tone. Probably a 3.25 this one.

The author is excellently descriptive, I enjoyed many of the author's imaginative ideas (sentient tattoos, Hail A Lama taxis, etc.), and enjoyed his obvious love for the Bay Area (obvious echos of Philip K Dick's love for the same). However his ideas were possibly too fruitful often colliding with each other rather then meshing, leaving the story line in tatters.

The concept of the "Hail A Lama" taxi cabs were a stroke a brilliance that could be the basis for an entire novel. However in MIR it is only given a quickly discarded backstory and then used as impersonal plot continuation device. The character's backstories were often just as rashly introduced in brief flashbacks only to be basically ignored. Thus leaving the characters feeling as if they were only hollow pivot points for a runaway plot. By the end of the book I was reading fairly quickly and mainly only to get it over with -- not that the ending was really worth it anyway.